Fall in a Bowl

I shared this soup recipe with some of you last year when I first came across it. The recipe is from Eating Well magazine and it's now one of my cool weather favorites. Like most soups, it's pretty easy to make and improves with time (great leftover).
The only tricky part, in my opinion, is preparing the butternut squash, which is a pain to peel. I have found it easiest to chop off the 'bulb' end of the squash so that each part of it has a flat "foot" end to stand on while I slice off the skin downward toward the cutting board with a chef's knife. Plus I always get this weird residue on my hands when I'm peeling this squash that I can't get off-- anyone else have that problem??
Anyway, here's the recipe. Laurel make it last night all the way over there in Italia, and said it was still good with red onions instead of leeks. (photo by Emilio)

Roasted Pear-Butternut Squash Soup with Crumbled Stilton

• 2 ripe pears, peeled, quartered and cored
• 2 lbs. butternut squash (don't worry to much about lbs.), peeled, seeded and cut into chunks
• 2 medium tomatoes, cored and quartered
• 1 large leek, white and pale green part only, halved lengthwise, sliced and thoroughly washed
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 T olive oil
• 1/2 t. salt, divided
• ground pepper to taste
• 4 cups veggie or chicken broth
• 2/3 cup crumbled Stilton or blue cheese (optional)
• sliced chives for garnish (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Combine pears, squash, tomatoes, leek, garlic, oil, and 1/4 t. salt and pepper in a large bowl and toss to coat. Spread evenly on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are tender (40-55 minutes). Let cool slightly.
3. Place half the veggies and half the broth back in the bowl and puree until smooth with a handheld blender (or blend in a traditional blender). Add to soup pot, followed by the puree of the other half of the ingredients. Add rest of salt.
4. Cook soup over medium-low heat, stirring, until hot, about 10 minutes. Divide among bowls and garnish with cheese and chives if desired.

serves 6, 1 1/3 cups each